At least six small business owners are without premises after a multi-million dollar fire tore through an Old Cleveland Road shopping complex at Capalaba early this morning.
Police and emergency crews responded to reports of a fire at Chemist Warehouse about 4am.
The popular family-owned Melin Vietnamese and Chinese Restaurant was one of those burnt out in the fire.
Owner Monica Tran said a friend called at 5am to tell her the building was in flames and they drove to the restaurant from their home at Eight Mile Plains.
"We're really really devastated, very shocked. We don't know what to do. The restaurant is gone," Mrs Tran said.
"The fire was huge. We've lost everything. There's nothing left."
Mrs Tran, her husband Kim, son Richard and daughter Alexandra have had the business on Old Cleveland Road at Capalaba for 18 years.
She said they had made improvements to their beloved restaurant only a week before the fire.
"We just had a film crew in the restaurant last week for a movie," Mrs Tran said.
"We had cleaned the whole place, changed the table cloths, had brand new tables, plates, cutlery and all that. We just replaced it and it's all gone now.
"We had brand new freezers and fridges, all gone now too."
Insurance on the restaurant would cover only the contents, and the business had no income protection.
Mrs Tran said she hoped the family would be able to find a new location with a kitchen to serve customers again but would have to wait until a decision was made about what would happen with the building as they had recently renewed their contract.
"We hope we can get back on our feet so customers and staff can come back."
"I hope we can help our amazing staff because right now they don't have a job, they were supposed to work this weekend and now they can't."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the family and help them rebuild their business.
C'ba Hair salon's owner Emma Hayes said on Facebook that she was devastated her business had burnt down and it was a day she would never forget.
Police said the blaze was under investigation and a crime scene had been set up.
Costa's Seafood Cafe owner Costa Tapinos said he arrived at 6am to open his business when he saw the smoke coming from the buildings across the road.
"It was huge thick, dark smoke, there was so much smoke," he said.
"We thought they put the fire out at first but it started up again at around 8am. It was just crazy, it all went up so quickly."
